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Federation law
'''Federation Law referred to the legal principles, procedures, and processes that governed and were applied to civil and military citizens of the Federation. The law of the United Federation of Planets was based on several historic documents, such as: * Magna Carta; Magna Carta was widely considered to be the first step in a long historical process leading to the rule of Federation constitutional law. ( ) * Statutes of Alpha III; a Bill of Rights originating from planet Alpha III, a base document for the Constitution of the United Federation of Planets ( ) * Vulcan Bill of Rights; a Bill of Rights originating from Vulcan, a founding member-world of the United Federation of Planets ( ) * United States Constitution; The United States Constitution was a base document for the Constitution of the United Federation of Planets. ( ) * Charter of the United Federation of Planets; The Charter of the United Federation of Planets was the document that was ratified by the original members of the United Federation of Planets at that organization's founding in 2161. Jonathan Archer was one of the signers of the charter. ( ; ) * Fundamental Declarations of the Martian colonies; The Fundamental Declarations of the Martian colonies was an important legal document drafted on the planet Mars during or after the founding of the Martian colonies in 2103. ( ; ) * Acts of Cumberland; The Acts of Cumberland were statutes pertaining to the rights of devices possessing artificial intelligence. ( ) The rights afforded to civil citizens of the Federation included the following documents: * Constitution of the United Federation of Planets; The Constitution of the United Federation of Planets outlining the framework by which the Federation was governed for the mutual benefit and protection of member planets and individual citizens. This document contains at least twelve "Guarantees" related to fundamental individual rights of citizens. The Seventh Guarantee was a fundamental right against self-incrimination protected by the Constitution of the United Federation of Planets. ( ) Section seven gamma of the Twelfth Guarantee defines an artist as a "person who creates an original artistic work." The definition was expanded to include holograms in 2378. ( ) * Federation Uniform Code of Justice; Laws governing citizens of the United Federation of Planets. ( ) * Federation Judicial Code; The Federation Judicial Code was a set of guidelines and regulations related to legal issues in the United Federation of Planets. ( ) The rights afforded to members of Starfleet include the following documents: * Starfleet Charter * Starfleet General Orders and Regulations; Starfleet General Orders and Regulations were a series of guidelines used to instruct members of Starfleet on the proper etiquette and policy in a situation that requires consultation for a resolution. These guidelines were especially useful in situations where flag officers could not be consulted to resolve a situation. ( ) The two most important General Orders were the Prime Directive and the Omega Directive. ( ) * Federation Uniform Code of Justice; The Federation Uniform Code of Justice was the legal basis of Starfleet court martial proceedings. ( ) Specific examples In the late 2250s, Amanda Grayson harbored her fugitive son, Spock, on Vulcan. She justified this by saying that under Federation law, she did not have to turn him in. As the wife of the Vulcan ambassador, she had the legal authority to invoke diplomatic immunity in order to shield him from extradition, unless the ambassador objected. ( ) Harcourt Mudd had been convicted under Federation law for smuggling, transporting stolen goods and purchasing a space vessel using counterfeit currency. ( ) In 2267, in his negotiations with the High Teer Akaar, James T. Kirk said the highest law of the Federation stated that a planet belonged to her people and would always belong to the people. ( ) In 2268, Sarek said that Coridan could be protected by Federation law and its wealth administered for the benefit of its people. ( ) Later that year, James T. Kirk ran into Harry Mudd again, he replied that due to all of Mudd's convictions under Federation law, he should have still been in jail rather than free. ( ) In 2269, Harry Mudd claimed to James T. Kirk, who was trying to bring Mudd in for fraud, illegal drug manufacturing and swindling, that since he was on the planet Motherlode, which did not recognize Federation law, he was not subject to the resulting punishment. ( ) In 2366, Lieutenant Commander Data informed Kivas Fajo that by abducting him and placing him in his "collection", he had violated Federation law. ( ) In 2367, Wesley Crusher had studied the effects of outpost judiciary decisions on Federation law, which Jean-Luc Picard saw as an excellent opportunity for Crusher to accompany him to Pentarus V to settle a dispute with the miners of that world. ( ) Bio-mimetic gel was a strictly controlled substance by the Federation and its sale or attempted purchase was prohibited under Federation law. ( ) In 2371, Commander Benjamin Sisko informed Kai Winn Adami that bringing in Shakaar Edon with Starfleet force would violate Federation law, since he would be interfering in Bajoran internal affairs. ( ) In 2372, Worf informed Quark that trafficking in illegal merchandise, such as a Tallonian crystal he planned to sell to Regana Tosh, was a felony under Federation law. ( ) Later that year, Nog informed Quark that as a Starfleet cadet, he was required to report any violation of Federation law to his superiors. But, as he had not been sworn in then, he asked Quark for ten percent of the profits he planned to make smuggling kemocite. ( ) In 2375, Koval told Julian Bashir that Luther Sloan wanted revenge for the death of his mentor, Admiral Fujisaki, but he was faced with a dilemma, such as how he would seek vengeance against the Tal Shiar, whom Sloan believed was responsible for Fujisaki's death, without violating Federation law. ( ) See also * Judge Advocate General External links * * at the Tarlton Law Library at the University of Texas at Austin * School of Law – an excellent 1992 Law Review article on law in the 24th century as shown on Category:Federation Category:Legal documents